This is the story about Joseph Overstrand and Cashmére Tanner, how they met and what happend afterwards. It's also about a family being ripped apart, and how all the pieces made it afterwards. (Odale Overstrand-story, of course. Lots of OCs, and a werid plot. Plus, I'm not use to writing romantic stuff, so... this is how it turned out.)

(A/N first chapter, yay! Ehm, Marcia is nineteen, Cashmére and Josepg are twenty-one.)

Chapter 1: Augustus Tanner

Marcia was irritated. Very irritated. At first, she was invited to a feast at a ship by Augustus Tanner, the new 'ruler' of her birth country, and then her mother (who hadn't talked to her since she ran away from home and moved into her brother Joseph's apartment) had the guts to insist that she should go. Marcia looked into the mirror, she had even pulled on that brooch Maximilian had given to her. The brooch depicted an oak leaf maded in silver, and it was covered with pearls that should depict water-drops. She wore a midnight-blue dress that hanged just a few inches down her knees. Suddenly Joseph, her older brother, opend the door.

"Joseph." Marcia said in a reproachful tune, "You can't just walk into anyones room like that.".

"But you aren't just anyone, you're my sister." Joseph replied.

"That doesn't matter, Jose." Marica pursed her lips.

"Infact it does, Mar." Joseph answerd with a smirk. Marcia roled her eyes.

"What do you want, then?" she asked.

"Just wanted to ask I you needs company to the Port, it is a long way." Joseph said. Marcia smiled.

"Sure." she replied, unusually short. Quickly she put up her hair in a simple, but yet casual hairstyle. Joseph smiled against his littlesister. She was, in his opinion, one of most beutiful humans who ever had walked on the earth's surface. Marcia had, as Joseph himself and both of his brothers, darke brown, wavy hair. Her eyes were emerald green, which Jospeh and his brothers also had. But then, they hadn't much in common.

"Shall we go, then, Jose?" Marcia's voice dragged him back to the earth.

"No, I didn't. I can see it in your eyes. Spit it out." Marcia answerd.

"It's nothing, Mar." Joseph said.

"Someone, is it." Marcia persisted.

"Maybe it is, but you don't got anything to do with that." Joseph answerd, a little bit snappish. Sometimes it was the only way to make Marcia stop asking a lot. Joseph knew that she just tried to be nice, but sometimes...

The easiest way for Marcia and Joseph to get to the Port was to take a ferry, and that could take from an half-hour to hours. Marcia attracted more eyes than usual, so Joseph moved a little closer her. He hadn't the intention of letting an unknown man come close his sister. Joseph knew that he could be a little over-protective sometimes, but he was after all Marcia's brother. At last the ferry arrived at the dock where Marcia and Joseph waited.

"Duck!" Marcia suddenly hissed, and hidded her hair.

"Why?" Joseph asked. "I'll tell you later." Marcia answerd and dragged Joseph onto the ferry. The ferry was unusally empty, but for the moment Marcia didn't seem to care. She sighed in relief. Joseph snickered.

"What's you with you? You looks like you've seen a doomhorse." he said.

"The feast, you know. The one you're going to." Joseph said slowly, as if he explained something really hard to a five-year old.

"Nope, just that it is at a ship called Immortalitatem." Marcia answerd. Joseph whistled lowly.

"Classy." he muttered. Immortalitatem was a very expensive ship, both he and Marcia knew that.

"I know." Marcia said coldly. Either she or Joseph could understand why she suddenly got invited by Augustus. Their families weren't so great friends. And Marcia really hated Cashmére, Augustus's daughter. The rest of the way Marcia and Jospeh was quiet, and after another quarter the ferry reached the place where they should get of the ferry.

"You can leave now, Jose." Marcia said, "I'll find the ship.".

"No way, Mar. The Port isn't a place for one like you; especially not at this time of the day." Joseph said. He wanted that Marcia would come to the ship safely, and he would love to spot Cashmére once again. Marcia roled her eyes.

"Okay, but I can do things on my own too, Jose." she said. Joseph smirked.

"You can? My whole life is a lie!" he replied, and pretended to be shocked. Marcia elbowed him.

"Stop being silly." she snapped, but she smiled a little anyways, "I don't wants to come too late.".

"Do I really have to meet her, daddy?" Cashmére Tanner complained. She was in her cabin at the ship Immortalitatem.

"Yes, you have to, dear." Augustus Tanner answerd. Cashmére moaned.

"But she's annoying. And uggly." Cashmére settled down in one of the chairs in the corner.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I needs her. Politics." Augustus said. Cashmére snorted, that was everything she ever had heard since she was... well, about seven. That was when Augustus, her father, had taken over from the Eastern Snow Princess. The Eastern Snow Princess had somehow dissapeard 'under mysterious circumstances', but Cashmére knew that it had something with her father to do. And one day she would figure it out.

"But you better gets dressed now, before she comes. I wants you to be done when she's here." Augustus said and rose up, "I think that your assistant already has picked out a dress for you.". Cashmére snorted, she didn't give too much for her assistants taste.

"Okay." she snapped, and went into her bathroom to have a wash.

When Cashmére five minutes later came out of the bathroom she saw a red dress lying on her bed. She snorted, it was really not her taste. But she didn't complain (which was unusual for her) and pulled it on. It fitted her pretty okay, but she didn't like it anyways. It was something wrong with it, but she could always use a little jewlery. Cashmére walked straightly to her cabinet, opend it, and picked out her jewel-case. Then she putted the case at her bed and opend it. The case was very expensive and maded of mahogany. It had once belonged to her mother, but when her mother had died Cashmére had inherited it. On the inside of the lid there was a picture of Cashmére's mother, Erianna Tanner. Erianna had been a beutiful woman with darke-blonde hair, hazel-brown eyes and a mysterious look.

"Miss you mother." Cashmére mumbled and picked out a necklace. Also that necklace had belonged to her mother. It was golden threads whired aroud a red stone that was as big as a baby's fist. Cashmére pulled on the necklace, and studied herself in the mirror. She was very alike her mother, the only thing was that she had witch-blue eyes. Suddenly Cashmére felt like she wanted to cry, she couldn't stand the pressure that everyone laid on her. She hated it more than anything.